Angela Merkel On How She Faced Trump, Putin, COVID & Brexit

[@LeadingTRIP]

German track is now available! Click the settings option and select your prefered audio track!

[@NoHairMan]

Thanks 👍

[@aimeelinekar3902]

Thank you! 🤩

[@Suse26]

Danke! ❤

[@fintonmainz7845]

Good.

[@col8547]

Shame you didn't ask her about the decision to end nuclear power in Germany after Fukushima. Her being originally a physicist that always surprised me. I guess time constraints or the fact that neither of you are scientists. CF France which still has a huge nuclear sector it left Germany much more vulnerable to Putin keeping his gas taps on, so unpredictable consequences.

[@petermorrell9865]

Less of an interview and more of a promotion of herself, you didn’t press her on anything. You just sat there in awe.

[@willtaylor2374]

Honestly i thought this was a disappointing softball interview that crossed into fawning at times. It felt like a missed opportunity to challenge her on her legacy which seems far more mixed now than it probably did a couple of years ago.

[@bazza2540]

She absolutely said nothing. Comes across as not knowing much. Is she intending to go back into politics? Why not tell it as it is now?

[@willtaylor2374]

@bazza2540 quite. They explain it away as her being very serious and circumspect which may be true but it's doing a lot of work here. She ruled Germany for years and it seems to have massive problems now. The liberal order in Europe has really struggled for a while now. Surely she shoulders as much responsibility as anyone for this?

[@Dude0000]

Why would they? They’re all on the same club and the same team. They have more in common with each other than any of them do with their average citizen of their countries. Yet we can see it’s plain luck they got where they did. Sure above average iq and conscientiousness, but the internet has exposed why we are declining. We have these people in power. Deeply unimpressive for the positions they hold.

[@AtheistDD]

I saw three Interviews of her the last month, not one Interviewer had the nerve to really ask the hard questions, especially about 16 Years mismanagement of inner german Matters, from "investitionsstau" (Lack of in investment especially in the infrastructure) to the self inflicted "Schuldenbremse" (no New debt over a certain rate) wich made Problem number one even Worse. The Swabian Hosewife has gernany "kaputtgespart" (saved to peaces)

[@Drudgen]

"She said she didn't like it, but would have to go along with it..."

[@didleyscott788]

Trente percente!

[@mrmg1235]

"Ich nichten lichten"

[@nikolaucznaum4312]

Cheap gas and oil, what's not to like??.....

[@2BuckChuckNL]

YT comment of the year

[@LAZAROBlake-b6j]

X and Qarden Token are going to be merged. Easiest money in my life

[@lars-akearonsson4772]

Please publish a version without translator. It works fine that Alistair and Rory speak English and Angela German.

[@PMMagro]

Subtitelse are way better. It is distracting with another person not in the room talkning.

[@kicorse]

They have done. Just select the German audio track in settings.

[@macsmiffy2197]

This is a British audio podcast first, which just happens to be uploaded to KZbin a day later, hence the dubbing.

[@HARLANWard-i9k]

Musk's Qarden Token announcement is coming soon. Easyest money if you get in on the ICO

[@pieeaterman3649]

Brilliant, Brilliant interview. Thanks loads for this. What fantastic insight!

[@Dude0000]

A masterclass in talking a lot without saying much of anything at all. Kamala couldn’t do it, as it came off as word salad, whereas Angela has mastered the art. No wonder we are in deep decline. As Dostoevsky put it, people of ideas are in charge, with no new ideas, whereas the US has a man of action in charge, which will inspire them and make them more energetic and get on with doing the basic things that are needed to be done, and not lost in conceptual ideas that seems to have replaced religion among the elitists that gives them their purpose.

[@MeesyIce]

can you guys release the undubbed version?

[@backgammonbacon]

Yes please undubbed I can read subtitles and I find the dub distracting.

[@tiggersix]

Please! I came to YT after stopping the podcast, hoping that YT has an undubbed version.

[@123bwlch]

@@backgammonbacon Agree.

[@rickihewitt]

It's also somewhat distracting that you can still hear the original audio underneath the dubbing.

[@tasschulze665]

Yes please please please!

[@nekowelt2135]

For goodness sake for these clever and privileged people who complain soooooo much on this version, can you not just simply use your finger 1) choose subtitle 2) just simply click on video track to choose German 😂. Yes there are people who appreciate this listening version as not everyone is so free to sit there read! Besides, please be humble and learn first re KZbin function before complaining so much, that is how we do in the third world country- we appreciate we can hear this speech for free! Thank you both gents to have her 😎

[@LilliOrtiz-k6c]

Qarden Token has two of the largest Tesla shareholders already; most likely something is coming

[@ComDeCastron]

Are these bots preparing a pump and dump?

[@theresalwayssomethingtobui944]

Impressed by Alistair following her in German without translator! Also, I'd love to have the German-English Version without translator.

[@flashman6424]

Yes, it would be great to get a version without translator.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

I'd love to see a version with English subtitles

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

he is fluent in German

[@peteradaniel]

Cambridge 2:1 in French and German? Yes he would be fluent. Also she’s not speaking in any dialect and, from personal experience of having lived in Germany, she’s very easy to understand because she speaks very plainly and very directly. She avoids florid or elaborate language, so much that a child could understand her.

[@NoHairMan]

You can switch the audio tracks in the video options. Sie können die Audiospur über die Videooptionen wechseln.

[@aimeelinekar3902]

Thank you for using a real, human, professional interpreter! But please do publish the original audio too. I’d love to hear the German. Signed - a fellow simultaneous interpreter

[@hosenfan2008]

The lady who interprets for her in the interview is Dorothee Kaltenbach, who has served at least two German chancellors, namely Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel. She was Schröder's interpreter when Blair was PM.

[@aimeelinekar3902]

@ She has a good English B, though for future reference, an English A would have been the more appropriate choice here.

[@NoHairMan]

You can switch the audio tracks in the video options. Sie können die Audiospur über die Videooptionen wechseln.

[@aimeelinekar3902]

@ they just enabled it in response to our request! (I checked, it wasn’t possible before).

[@2639theboss]

@@aimeelinekar3902 I said this elsewhere, but in case you need the confidence boost, simultaneous interpreting is genuinely incredible. I don't know how you do it, but I hope you and the people around you appreciate how incredibly talented and gifted you are, and also how hard you've worked to be capable of doing it.

[@fst2822]

Tbh... Probably the most excited I've ever been for one of your guests. Can't wait to listen to this hour.

[@ColderfromBonet]

Such a complimentary interview...what a shame.

[@jaydee112233]

Those ready to listen will find this interview truly inspiring, especially when it comes to leadership and the role of leaders in public office. Great job providing the space for her to lay out her approach. If only we had more politicians of this caliber rather than more trumpets. Thank you!!!

[@bruce4947]

Like most politicians she went for short term popular option (cheap gas), rather than show some farsightedness and make the more difficult decision not to empower Putin and pay the price later.

[@maryj5593]

As usual gentlemen,as stellar edition. Thank you.

[@ceyhunay7105]

The two were pretty much in awe of her and the whole interview was a softball for her. Missed opportunity.

[@neuemilch8318]

This woman has been running my country for almost twenty years and I have not seen a single interview where she has been cracked, I can guarantee you her nuts are made of titanium. I'm not a fan but credit where credit is due

[@RobertThomson-y4m]

Agent Merkel flogging her book? The state she's left Germany and Europe in is shocking. Why do these two let her off so lightly?

[@jajamuc]

Isn't it easy to just blame her for everything? You are absolutely delusional when you describe the state of Europe throughout her reign as shocking. It was a time of stability, humaneness and political decency. The chancellor of Germany cannot prevent Trump, Russia attacking Ukraine and Britain leaving the EU. But just blame her for everything.

[@evilrslade]

A. She's not responsible for Europe and wasn't elected to be. Germany isn't at its best at the moment, but compared to.... B. Austerity non binding referendum Cameron, The MayBot, Clown car COVID Johnson, The £40 billion lettuce and Ssssssunak have left the UK in the toilet. Glass houses and all that.

[@User-r5g5f]

They are arch globalists and EU federalists.

[@willhovell9019]

Amazing interview with a person that was a model of European stability.

[@SW-lw6mt]

It's refreshing to hear from a politician that wasn't a lawyer. She's much more frank.

[@backgammonbacon]

All politicians sound sane and sensible when they are out of power....trouble is getting them to behave like that when they are in power.

[@originaluddite]

@@backgammonbacon the ones you really got to worry about are the ones that already sound _insane_ even when they are not (yet) in power...

[@leo1961berlin]

Frank is not exactly the right word here. One of her nicknames in Germany was "die Sphinx". Nobody ever knew precisely what she thought and felt, and she was always very good at the "on the one hand, on the other hand" analysis in interviews. Far more significant in this context is her entire upbringing and socialisation in the old GDR. She likes to pretend that she never identified with the old regime, but in order to get on that's exactly what she needed to do. Living in a dictatorship means that you learn to keep your mouth shut or, at the very least, to be very circumspect with opinions. That is certainly true in her case.

[@neuemilch8318]

@@backgammonbacon She sounded the same when she was still in office. Very calm, not really easy to grasp, neutral and mediating the perfect adapted politician for German culture

[@ChrisR-xs9wp]

Frank? She dodged all the difficult questions and this was such a soft fawning interview. Rory and Alistair were basically PR agents.

[@Amin-rj9bj]

Another Merkel masterclass in saying much and nothing. Even in hindsight she does not own to the consequences of her weak foreign and domestic policies. As German her 16 years of impotent reign has left the country illequipped to deal with issues on pretty much every front (Immigration, Gas, social housing, reneweable energies, domestic industry etc.). Would have liked more probing from Alistair tbh

[@cartmann227]

Did you even try to listen? And her foreign and domestic policies were shared by a majority of Germans. Its called democracy. A foreign concept for you I guess.

[@bryangeake5826]

What? Totally wrong! When did you hear any UK politicians be so frank and open about their time in office and the geopolitics that shaped things!? Not shambolic Boris, who makes things up to re-model his legacy, not May who still thinks she didn't nearly crash the economy! Badenoch who is nothing more than a lying 6th form level politician who thinks conflict even if she lies about the point is 'politics'!!!

[@lublondon]

Ich mochte sie wirklich sehr. Ihre unprätentiöse Art und Weise, persönliche Anständigkeit und Unbestechlichkeit. Leider musste ich erkennen, dass ihre große Entscheidungen bemerkenswert konsequent falsch waren. Von der AKW Abschaltungen, über die Aussetzung der Wehrpflicht, und der grandioseste Fehltritt von allen: die Öffnung der Grenze 2015. Heute ist sie uneinsichtig und stur wie eh und je. Große Enttäuschung, die gute Mutti

[@sylviadrees3761]

Unter Merkel jammerte die Industrie nur nach neuen Arbeitskräften. Die hat sie besorgt.

[@SDDT24]

Due to merkel Frankfurt is a slum where 100% of “serious sexual assaults” and 57.4% of all serious crime were from people with foreign backgrounds

[@melw2389]

Thank you!

[@CatTestTrophy]

From the outset I was against her “Wir schaffen das!” because I knew she would just say it and nothing would follow much like with Scholz’s “Zeitenwende”.

[@philipmulville8218]

Simultaneous interpretation is enormously challenging. Amazing work by the lady interpreter. 👏👏👏

[@imacg5]

based on the fact that some translated answers finished before Merkel's original answers, I would assume this is a dubbed video, aka a voice actor reading the translations.

[@fburton8]

Yet it _sounds_ like it’s being translated live. I wonder if the live translation was edited back in with a small time compression to avoid an ‘overhang’ at the end. Or maybe it’s just good acting. Either way, it worked very well!

[@wattswatts7605]

@@fburton8 Presumably you are right given that Rory is wearing headphones and seems to follow what she is saying when he doesn't speak German like Alistair.

[@2639theboss]

@@imacg5 At the very least, I believe the translation occurred in real time for the actual discussion and it's possible that the full translation was edited or created after. All the same, simultaneous interpretation is absolutely insane. I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly difficult it is, it's unironically the most difficult skill I've encountered and it's only feasible from what I've seen when someone is incredibly naturally gifted for languages and works incredibly hard. I've seen it done in Russian/Turkish/English (three languages at once, two coming in, one going out) and it's mind-blowing.

[@michaelburggraf2822]

Now that was very interesting for me as a German: two of the best political podcasters interviewing Angela Merkel. Thank you very much!

[@youknow6968]

I just know this is going to be good, certainly amongst the best on this podcast.

[@darvenova]

Excellent interview as usual! Superb Dorothee Kaltenbach!

[@GJWielinga]

Super!

[@lysan1445]

Thanks for this interview! I have waited for it since you first mentioned you wanted to interview her. I never voted conservative, and I consider myself a green leftie. But I have to say, I always liked Merkel. I think she is the only well-known conservative politician who ever publicly showed compassion with refugees and truly wanted to help. I also like that she doesn't consider herself more important than anyone else and is humble enough to understand her tasks as serving people. That makes her very different from most politicians. I am not saying she always made the right decisions. But I came to respect her as someone who managed to stay authentic and humane. The formality and use of the German "Sie", even with people close to her, sound very familiar to me. I also grew up in a theological context. It is an expression of respect that surprisingly deepens the connection and closeness, often much more than the casual "Du". The one person who was closer to me than anyone else I called "Sie" my whole life.

[@Quasi_Modo_lives]

Can you distinguish between "compassion" and virtue-signalling ? Because in Merkel's case, that is very important.

[@philipPatterson-w1t]

Fantastic interview.

[@ohnezuckerohnefett]

As a German, this is one of the best, insightful interviews around the publication of her autobiography. I haven't heard German interviewers getting so much out of her regarding the "Spendenaffäre". I think it's the first time that she mentions that she revered Kohl deeply.

[@obinator9065]

Of course the worst chancellor would revere the worst chancellor before her.

[@SardonicALLY]

It would have been nice to ask her a light hearted question about her portrayal by Tracey Ullman on her show a few years ago. Has she seen it, does she think it is good and funny.

[@JohnnyBloodyJohnny]

Now there's a benchmark for any future leader of any country in the world. What a great woman & leader who says it like it is (diplomatically)... Thanks RIPolitics (Leading) team for this excellent interview of a great historic leader of our generation....

[@warbler1984]

She invited a million migrants in to Germany with no real plan and was overly reliant on german gas

[@sylviadrees3761]

​@@warbler1984 wir schafften das.

[@birdndiz10]

@@warbler1984 Exactly,what amazing courage this woman showed…

[@Quasi_Modo_lives]

@@warbler1984 Russian gas.

[@obinator9065]

She was a horrible chancellor.

[@soggymoggytravels]

I was expecting a talk ABOUT Angela Merkel. I didn't expect an interview WITH Ms Merkel. Erstaunlich!

[@malloryviertel1423]

Love it 😊

[@nathaniellowe5100]

I feel like I would have liked to meet her father as well, he seemed very interesting. I've always liked her, though I have a soft spot for scientists who go into politics. I'm pretty left wing, so I'm sure there are many matters of policy I would disagree with, I have never doubted that her positions comes from a position actually thinking through her plans, and motivated to fix the same problems that affect real people.

[@EmpoerterGeisterfahrer]

Merkel ist klar und vernünftig. Eine Wohltat. And a great interview, as usual.

[@Quasi_Modo_lives]

Merkel is a joke. Up there with the other do-nothings like Obama, Adern, Marin & Staaarrrmer ....

[@SDDT24]

Vernünftig 😂

[@ajsctech8249]

Mit ihren Geschichten vom Saunagang statt vom Biertrinken mit der Freundin überrascht sie mit ihrem Charme und ist erfrischend authentisch.

[@ezerv7]

it is disappointing not to see any challenges to the industrial policy and reliance on Russian gas.

[@nekowelt2135]

She did and perhaps you can read some her books on this one - as a scientist she did not believe the necessity to close down nuclear power stations completely in Germany after Fukushima disaster, but she almost lost all the support as you have to live and work in Germany to understand it is a country view things in a quite black/white lens (my own experiences) as a western country. After she accepted the policy, she just had to get along very well with her neighbor and find a practical solution for her country. I worked in the largest German energy company, and you have to know how much Germany industry and economy benefited hugely from the very cheap gas for over a decade.

[@Isewein]

Yes they really let her off the hook too easily on that.

[@User-r5g5f]

Or letting in millions of migrants from outside Europe.

[@NomadNFA]

Gentlemen, can we please have more volume / sound - I have my laptop up against my ears, not wanting to miss a word of the dialogue. My laptop volume is already at max. Until reading some of your books and listening to this podcast I was barely interested in politics. Now, I dont want to miss a word between the guests and yourselves. Thank you. 68 years Alastair, surely you understand

[@emmanuellarbi1018]

Oh, wow, you managed to get the interview

[@craigsoota1]

Absolutely fascinating person to listen to and a life of a interesting contrasts…

[@a.e264]

"she is a real grown-up!", this made me chuckle. Yes, she wasn't perfect but I still miss her calm and thoughtful demeanor (not like some other politicians following this populist shit)

[@MarianneKellyMyTravelBlog]

aw, Gutted ! Would Love an undubbed version of this!

[@MarianneKellyMyTravelBlog]

Thx! Got it!

[@kinngrimm]

As a german citizen there were several aspects in her reign that i disliked. When her phone was tapped by the americans she said "that is a no go between friends" which might be naiv, but also happened within the backdrop of granting the US access to data of german citizens to do with it as they wish aslong if they find any terror threats that they give those back to germany as due to our laws this could have not be done that easily. So she has no problem when german citizens being spied on, but she has a problem when its herself. This to me tells me everything i need to know about her priorities and how she sees other people. The other thing was that she kept Schäuble around. He knew what happened in the CDU inside-out, there is no way he didn't know about the black suitcases and black cash registers. So she kept an obviously corrupt politician in her administration. I voted for her the first time around as i thought it would be a good thing for us to have a woman in office and someone from the former DDR who could bring us together. To this day i am not convinced any of that made a differance. Otherwise i do think she was an acceptable administrator, but not an exceptional one.

[@rupertorgan7749]

Please can we have the undubbed interview with the option of English subtitles.

[@NoHairMan]

You can switch the audio tracks in the video options. Sie können die Audiospur über die Videooptionen wechseln :)

[@user-sq7nk9us6f]

Excellent translator but retaining Merkel's voice in the background so distracting that I gave up. Would be good to have a "clean" sound version.

[@User-r5g5f]

5:48 exactly what the German and British states do to anyone who anti-immigration, critical of Israel or anti-war.

[@maxheadrom3088]

Wow!!!! Excellent!!!!

[@emanueleroppo8357]

Merkel truly is turning into a tinier and tinier character

[@bribg423]

Ein sehr gutes Interview! Ich würde mir das Buch gerne kaufen, möchte aber den hohen Preis nicht unterstützen.

[@sabinehahn9774]

"Du machst" is what you use in German when you want to express "one does"

[@hukama6911]

can you upload a subtitled only (non-dubbed) version I find the dub quite distracting

[@sonyphotoguy6601]

choose German language and you have it.

[@RaysTrack]

I'd be interested to hear why Alastair rated Clinton over Obama.

[@MrCvanE]

Because Blair and Clinton are really good friends. Obama was soft on dictatorship that we are now paying the price for.

[@RationalAUS]

UNDUBBED AUDIO ❤ 1) setting icon on video 2) audio track 3) German

[@ups1art]

Calm, intelligent, well balanced with a genuine understanding of Newton’s 3rd.. God, I miss politicians like that.

[@esparauto]

wow! Cool

[@jornalbring5756]

Do you have an undubbed version of this remarkable interview available for your bilingual fans of the TRIP podcast?

[@LeadingTRIP]

Yes! Change the audio track to German. Click the little cog on the video and you'll see the option.

[@PixelVoyager-m4z]

Super smart. Cheeky dry humor.

[@eirikasbjrnberg8753]

Excellent intrerview

[@User-r5g5f]

A video on leadership from the most catastrophic leader post-war Europe has ever produced. 👀

[@sfwplant]

She's quite rare for a German in that her English isn't better than most Brits!

[@sararichardson737]

Very unusual. I doubt she watched tv much.

[@lapernice6978]

@@sararichardson737She ist from the GDR and had russian as her first foreign language. I guess she can understand the english questions, but preferes to answer unfiltered in her own language.

[@eirikasbjrnberg8753]

The strange thing in Russia is that 90% of young educated want some form of western type construction. That said most Russian companies are top down very strictly ….

[@markdemariassy8685]

Is it possible to get a version without the English overdub (with or without English subtitles)?

[@Stoddardian]

Absolutely pathetic.

[@AndreasRothbauer-xj4op]

I admire the translator who translated "Schwofen"

[@amynatzke1050]

Wow! So interesting and good.

[@cl2046]

Merkel is so gifted in being able to distil and communicate the essential elements of the issue to be addressed. Her sense of timing and of service was so important.

[@Quasi_Modo_lives]

"gifted" ? At what ? She has the personality & charisma of a jellyfish.

[@M00nHead]

Shame, I can't listen to it with two voices playing at once....

[@udayjoshi3508]

"I always thought how we could bring democracy to Russia"

[@User-r5g5f]

43:31 your job is to look after the interests and security of the German people, not to virtue signal. What a wretched politician.

[@niklas2094]

Just saying: The subtitles in the German audio track are auto-generated, thus often unprecise, omitting lots of words and getting others, including almost all names, wrong.

[@wattyler6075]

Alistair,I've never been to a football match in my 71yrs on this planet & never will as I have no interest in the game,but I'd expect you to feel the same about my chosen sport.

[@Kavala76]

The Minsk accords were signed to "give Ukraine time" to strengthen itself, according to ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was in office from 2005 to 2021, in an interview published on Wednesday in the Zeit newspaper. Merkel said "The 2014 Minsk agreement was an attempt to give time to Ukraine. It also used this time to become stronger as can be seen today. The Ukraine of 2014-2015 is not the modern Ukraine." - Al Mayadeen English [8 Dec 2022] Why should I believe anything you say, you liar.

[@JayneHarrington]

She really could have spoken English in this interview - the whole world speaks English as a second language.

[@nachman5570]

She knows that all these and many others are German made 😮

[@bargh70]

I have to say I've seen virtually ALL her German interviews on this book tour and they're all vastly more boring than this one. I understood the assignment.

[@Eltener123]

Surprised you didn't ask about the unwavering support for Israel and Putin-esque way of dealing with Pro-Palestinian voices that her and successive German leaders have upheld

[@erhardt1477]

German and English 😂.. nice 👍 Deutsch und Englisch… super 👍 She is born in the north of Germany 🇩🇪 in Hamburg… where people are more reserved…

[@ROBNarvaez]

Trump is expected to mention Qarden Token this week and the ICO is already almost sold out

[@CalvinSMoore]

A real leader. Job well done.

[@harryherman5371]

Upload subtitled version now

[@LeadingTRIP]

It's there - swap the audio track by clicking on the video settings button.

[@harryherman5371]

@ Nice

[@louisdisbury9759]

Merkel can speak both English and Russian fluently.and now due to both her Energy policy and Immigration policy Germany once again is in turmoil,the next 6 months there is going to be intresting.

[@paulfriedrich1686]

Am I to understand that Alastair understands German and Rory does not?

[@dschoene57]

Yes. Alistair is fluent in German. Rory knows quite a few languages, but German isn't one of them.

[@billder2655]

I think Alastair speaks English, French and German

[@chisomahamba379]

East and west Germany 🇩🇪 should be different countries just like North and South Korea, and not as one country anymore because they now have different believes and way of life.

[@gailfg2211]

God I loved this interview. What a wonderful woman and politician. Thank you so much!

[@chisomahamba379]

East Germany need to be independent and become country of its own, just like south and North Korea 🇰🇵. So there shall be East and west Germany 🇩🇪 as countries of its own.

[@chilibilli3322]

???

[@zurielsss]

Putin didn’t change, you just believed the facade that he is to be reasoned with

[@ronandyke6562]

Is the german Turkey agreement what lead to Turkey back HTS to attack Syria? Am I right in thinking Turkey wanted all the Syrians to leave and Assad wouldnt take them back?

[@michaelsmith789]

As others have said would be great to get a subtitled version so we don't have to listen to the translator.

[@ronald3836]

Select the German audio track.

[@Guardian__Angel]

Merkel speaks fluent English. Why, on Earth, has she decided to give interview in German only to promote the international sales of her book?! 😮 Doe

[@MOSHEEnos]

With Elon and Trump now working with Qarden Token is going to absolutely blow up

[@chisomahamba379]

There shall be East and west Germany as countries of its own, and not one country anymore, just like North and South Korea.

[@gabekruse8403]

Rory saying chancellor sounds like schatz lol

[@rasco1521]

Lets just make the point about Brexit and could the EU have done more clear. When Cameron went to them for reform they gave a few scraps and nothing more. The EU as an institution has never dealt with the need for in-depth reform. If they had prior to the referendum and shown what could have been accomplished I believe the Referendum result would have been different. However there was a clear view from EU leaders that nothing had to be done as Remain would win. Ms Merkel said it herself that the EU is too bureaucratic, and yet ever since 2016 nothing has changed.

[@watermelon7998]

Cameron was actually given a lot, and more than what the member states had been originally prepared to give. Cameron promised a referendum thinking that he will be given an exception from free movement of labour if he blackmails the EU with the UK membership, and despite every single leading EU politician having told him (including Merkel) that he would not get it, he continued to think they were bluffing. I don't know what "in-depth reform" you had in mind. But I, as a continental European can tell you that EU citizens had already been totally fed up with all the exceptions, opt-outs etc then UK had demanded itself during the decades, and it was just one too many. The EU would have preferred to have the UK inside, but not at any cost, there really are some boundaries. Yes, the EU is very bureaucratic because there are 27 member states who all need agree on something before it is introduced. It's slow but it's not going to change if it wants to remain democratic. Still much better than starting local or bigger wars instead.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

@@watermelon7998 Europe is not of necessity going to War and so you are just making Britain's point then. Britain wanted certain things and the E.U. was not willing to give them. Well Brexit seems reasonable then.

[@CatTestTrophy]

Mutti!

[@somateria]

Polytetrafluoroethylene between Speer and Rutte.

[@luciafidalgo296]

I wish there were more leaders like Angela Merkel. Level headed, compassionate and determined.

[@FuzzyRiy]

Isn't she the one who made Germany completely reliant on Russian energy? Also these podcast hosts have an awful rep in politics lol.

[@User-r5g5f]

If there were more leaders like Angela Merkel, Europe would already be destroyed.

[@kabir3510]

Subbed version please